Ray Fortin was a solid positional defenceman who played parts of three seasons with the St. Louis Blues during their first three seasons. He was disciplined in his own end recorded his share of assists by providing crisp outlet passes to his teammates.

The native of Drummondville, Quebec played with the local Rockets and Aigles in the Quebec Senior League. In June 1967, St. Louis signed him as they began to assemble their expansion roster. He was a part time player for the Blues during their first two years in the league and played three playoff games when the club reached the finals in 1968. He enjoyed a fine year with the CHL's Kansas City Blues in 1968-69 and was selected to the league's second all-star team. Fortin was a regular in the lineup in 1969-70 and saw action in three post-season matches as the Blues reached the Stanley Cup final for the third straight year.

Over the next four years, Fortin was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins but was strictly a farm hand. He was particularly solid in 1970-71 when he split the season between the Springfield Kings and Montreal Voyageurs and was voted on to the AHL second all-star team. He retired in 1974 after spending a year with the San Diego Gulls of the WHL.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1961-62

Drummondville Rockets

ETSHL

10

1

1

2

4

1962-63

Drummondville Rockets

ETSHL

1963-64

Drummondville Rockets

ETSHL

1964-65

1965-66

Drummondville Eagles

Que-Sr.

42

5

12

17

54

5

0

0

0

13

1965-66

Sherbrooke Castors

Al-Cup

19

0

4

4

16

1966-67

Drummondville Eagles

Que-Sr.

42

9

17

26

54

9

1

4

5

6

1966-67

Drummondville Eagles

Al-Cup

9

1

1

2

14

1967-68

St. Louis Blues

NHL

24

0

2

2

8

-3

3

0

0

0

2

1967-68

Kansas City Blues

CPHL

22

1

2

3

22

1968-69

St. Louis Blues

NHL

11

1

0

1

6

+4

1968-69

Kansas City Blues

CHL

50

6

18

24

59

1969-70

St. Louis Blues

NHL

57

1

4

5

19

+3

3

0

0

0

6

1970-71

Springfield Kings

AHL

25

2

14

16

18

1970-71

Montreal Voyageurs

AHL

29

4

11

15

20

3

0

2

2

4

1971-72

Boston Braves

AHL

76

3

24

27

64

8

0

0

0

6

1972-73

Boston Braves

AHL

74

1

20

21

28

1

0

0

0

0

1973-74

San Diego Gulls

WHL

69

1

15

16

36

4

0

1

1

4

NHL Totals

92

2

6

8

33

6

0

0

0

8

CHL Second All-Star Team (1969) AHL Second All-Star Team (1971)

1961-62 regular season statistics for Drummondville (ETSHL) unavailable. Signed as a free agent by St. Louis, June, 1967. Traded to Los Angeles by St. Louis for Bob Wall, May 11, 1970. Traded to Montreal by Los Angeles with Gord Labossiere for Ralph Backstrom, January 26, 1971. Claimed by Hershey (AHL) from Montreal in Reverse Draft, June, 1971. Traded to Boston by Hershey (AHL) for cash, August, 1971.